Unlock bitlocker disk via cmd

bitlockerwindows 7

how can I unlock a bitloker-locked disk via batch (or cmd line)?
What I need is to replicate the effect of the default action you see in the context menu of the unit (i.e. unlocking temporarly the unit providing the secret password).
Thx

Best Answer

When you say "unlock" it's not clear if you mean "disable Bitlocker" or "decrypt the drive". Disabling the encryption puts a plain-text key on the volume but otherwise leaves the volume encrypted. This is much faster than decrypting the entire volume, but doesn't result in the volume being a plain NTFS volume.

The manage-bde utility is what you're looking for.

Assuming you're running this on the computer with Bitlocker enabled, while booted, you can use the following parameters to perform the following actions:

  • The "-off" parameter will actually decrypt the volume completely (leaving you with a plain NTFS volume). This may be quite time consuming on large volumes.

  • To disble Bitlocker without decrypting the volume, use the "-protectors -disable x:" command-line, where "x:" is the drive-letter of the volume to disable Bitlocker on.

If you're working with a disk from another computer then the "-unlock" command with a recovery key file or recovery password will be necessary to unlock the volume.

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